Computer training used to keep Hackney pensioners active

09:25 18th February 2009

Pensioners in the London borough of Hackney are receiving computer training as part of a scheme to help keep their minds active, reports the Guardian.

Hackney's Silver Surfers has been established by the charity Age Concern which has used Lottery funding to buy 21 computers and provide three full-time staff to help local people use them.

The scheme offers free IT training to people aged between 50 and 65, and around 25 people turn up each afternoon to learn about online social networking sites and email facilities.

Rick Crust, a development officer with Age Concern who provides some of the scheme's computer training, told the paper: "It's taken for granted that everyone has access to the internet and understands it. But most of the older people don't, so they feel totally excluded."

Mr Crust added that the majority of people in the Hackney region have relatives in Africa and the Caribbean, so IT training helps them to keep in touch.

Age Concern advises elderly people across the UK on everyday issues such as problems they may be having with utility bills.